Washington Produce in Redlands focuses on freshness

REDLANDS - In a warehouse tucked away on West Kansas Street, Jack Ghostine zips in and out of a room retrofitted to look like an old fashioned corner grocery store with spices, snacks and oils filling the shelves.

Ghostine, the owner of Washington Produce, opened the store's doors at noon for locals to pick up their fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and more. But the large warehouse has been abuzz since at least 4 a.m.

"It doesn't end," Ghostine said of Washington Produce's mission to bring the freshest ingredients to both local families and wholesale buyers as far away as West Covina. "Tony (the store's co-owner and Jack's brother) is on the phone at 1 a.m. working with suppliers in L.A.," Ghostine said. "At 4 a.m. the trucks come in with the fresh produce for the day and the staff comes in to prepare orders."

The local business purchases large produce orders from growers in Los Angeles and smaller orders from local Redlands-area farmers. On the wholesale side of the business, these fresh foods arrive at Washington Produce just in time to be packaged, prepared and sent to wholesale buyers ranging from retirement homes to San Manuel Casino in Highland.

On the retail side, locals can place a custom order online at WashingtonProduce.Com and choose a time between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday to come by and pick up their freshly packaged groceries.

"I don't know that we will ever be a supermarket," Ghostine said. "At a supermarket all the stuff is out all day, tons of people are touching it and by the end of the day the produce is no good. We don't want it to be like that."

The Ghostine brothers have tried that model before when their business was a little fruit and vegetable stand on Washington Street in Colton, started in 1990. Tony Ghostine was running the operation back then while Jack was a computer programmer in Orange County.

"Everything was done with paper and pencil back then, all the orders, so I told Tony `I am going to write a system for your business,"' Ghostine said of his entrance into the business in 1994.

A self-taught computer programer whose formal education consists of some classes at the University of California, Riverside, Ghostine designed every aspect of the current Washington Produce online order and delivery system.

"It's nice that he did that, so if anything goes wrong we can fix it right away," said business assistant Shelby Smart.

In the past two years, the online side of the business has expanded to offer more custom ordering options for everything from meat to smoothie kits to party platters. Retail customers place their order the day before they expect to pick it up, noting if they would like onions excluded from their salad mix, for example, or if they would like to add peppers to their stir fry kit.

"We are always checking the online system, the voice mail, the fax and reviewing all the orders," Ghostine said.

On stainless steel tables in the back, staff begin at 4 a.m. to package the food that was shipped in that morning. With cutting boards, vacuum sealers and airtight containers the food is prepared and packaged exactly the way it was ordered. While it waits, the food is placed in a cardboard box and stored in an expansive walk in refrigerator or in the back room for pick up later that same day.

"We keep track of who comes in and who doesn't," Ghostine said. "Because there currently isn't an option for online pre-payment (orders must be paid for at time of pick up) we remain in great contact with our customers and really try to get to know them by name. We are surprised at how well this honor system has worked so far."

The future for Washington Produce might hold expanded hours, according to Ghostine, but he adds that the freshness of the food is their first priority.

Also on the horizon for the family owned local business are text message reminders and an option for online pre-payment. Washington Produce is also piloting a food order delivery program for groups of retail customers who share an office complex who have a hard time coming in to pick up their food during the store's limited hours.

"We realize that we have a long way to go," Ghostine said. "We realize that for some customers our hours are not convenient for them. Our next big challenge is understanding how do we make this service more available to people who can't make it in."

"I've had experiences in the past where the owner is in it for the money," Smart said. "But these people are really here for the customer."

Washington Produce is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's at 450 Kansas St. in Redlands.